


Hidden Away

by GrowlingPeanut



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-05 02:58:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5358467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrowlingPeanut/pseuds/GrowlingPeanut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhys isn't quite sure what to call his feelings toward Fiona. They're certainly not like anything he's ever experienced <em>before.</em> So when he's cornered by Sasha in the eerie, glowing forests of the Atlas terraforming facility, he confesses everything that he's had on his mind. Unfortunately, his plan to tell <em>Fiona</em> as well doesn't <em>quite</em> go according to plan...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hidden Away

**Author's Note:**

> Basically a Rhyiona re-write of the "flower scene" in Episode 3.

Rhys didn’t know how to describe it. It _seemed_ silent, but at the same time, it...wasn’t. Leaves rustled. Trees creaked. Insects droned. Sure, it was probably the most gorgeous place he’d seen on Pandora so far, but something about it still made his skin crawl. “This is...uh…”

Sasha smirked. “Romantic?”

“Well, I guess it _could_ be…” Rhys ducked under a low branch. “If it weren’t for the _hissing_.” He tipped a thumb toward a group of the floating plant-creatures, watching as they drifted serenely overhead. “It’s...a _little_ creepy.”

Sasha shrugged. “Compared to the rest of the wildlife on Pandora…”

Rhys grumbled a reluctant agreement to her unspoken implication. At least these things hadn’t tried to kill them on sight. Regardless, he didn’t really want to be in this facility any longer than he had to be. “Kinda hard to see the tower from down here…”

“We’ll find it. We weren’t too far off when that catwalk collapsed.” She elbowed him in the ribs as they pushed through a curtain of huge leaves. “And you were _totally_ scared, Mister _I-Could-Jump-A-Million-Times-Further-Than-That_.”

Rhys scoffed, but didn’t bother denying it. They walked on in comfortable silence for a few moments. Well, calling it _comfortable_ silence was maybe a bit of a stretch, since every movement in the leaves around them set Rhys’ nerves on edge. And again, it wasn’t really _silence_ , with all the jungle noises— “So...you think you could get back together with August?” Maybe not the _best_ topic, but he was desperate for conversation. “If that’s even something you’re interested in at all, of course.”

“I...don’t know,” Sasha admitted with a sigh.

“He seemed kind of...disrespectful. And not just during the entire Gortys...core...fiasco, either—which I actually totally understand why he would be _then_ , I mean, that whole thing was _craaaazy_ —”

“He tries to act tough,” Sasha cut in. “But...once you get to know him…” Rhys glanced down at her just in time to see a slight smile tug at the corners of her lips. “He can actually be pretty sweet.”

She didn’t elaborate and Rhys chewed his lip. He hated to press the subject, but hearing nothing besides bugs, leaves, hissing plants, and his own footsteps only made him think about the potential danger they were in. Dreamy, glowing jungle or not, this was still an Atlas facility, and given his track record at the _previous_ two Atlas facilities...he’d barely make it out of this one alive. If at all. At least Vaughn was with Loader Bot and Fiona could (hopefully) rely on Athena if things got too dicey—

“While we’re on the subject though, why don’t we talk about _you?_ ”

“Wh—uh, huh?” He looked down at Sasha, not at all comforted when he was met with narrowed eyes and a cunning smirk. “Wh—wha—haha, uh, what is there to talk about...about me…?”

She gave an exaggerated sigh and rolled her eyes. “I’m not blind, Rhys.”

“I...know that…” He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

“And I’m not stupid, either.”

Yeah, it was going there. “I… _officially_ ha-have _nooo_ idea what you’re talking about, a-anymore,” he lied, hating how nervous he sounded. _Fiona makes it look so easy_ … He swallowed maybe a little too loudly when he felt his face heating up at the thought of the con artist.

“That blush says you know _exactly_ what I’m talking about.” Sasha stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest. “So go ahead and tell me why I catch you staring at my sister practically every time I look at you.”

“I...uh...ha, I don’t _stare_ , okay? I…” He drew in a deep breath. He could do this. He could say it. Sasha wouldn’t shoot him. They needed to hack the security system and she couldn’t do it without him, so he was safe...right? “Fine, I...think she’s...really beautiful. There, I said it. Happy?”

Sasha’s eyes narrowed to slits as she studied his (uncomfortably warm) face. “That’s _it?_ ”

“Wha...what do you mean?”

“You like the way she _looks_ ,” Sasha clarified, voice hard.

Rhys immediately realized his mistake. “No, no! Well, _yes_ —she’s...God, she’s gorgeous, but that’s not the _only_ thing! She...she’s smart! A-and funny—sometimes—and I like how she rolls her eyes and pretends not to care but actually smiles when she thinks I’m not looking—oh, and when she asks for my opinion on things, that’s nice—”

Sasha waved dismissively. “Okay, okay… Don’t...choke on your tongue.” She let her arms drop to her sides and continued down the path.

Rhys fell into step beside her, wringing his hands. “Is it...okay with _you?_ I mean...if I were to, I don’t know, like...ask her...out, or...something? I haven’t really known either of you for very long, but...surviving death with someone tends to make you think about—”

“Rhys, just...stop, for a second. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I...do that a lot.”

“It’s fine with me if you want to…” she looked down and picked at her nail polish, “...date Fiona, I guess, but I’m just gonna tell you right now… I don’t know if she feels the same way.”

“I...kinda picked up on that, actually.” He sighed and scuffed at the dirt. “Which is why I wanted to make sure it was okay with you so I could...ask what kinds of things she likes. So I’d...have a better chance.”

At that, Sasha turned. “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

He didn’t immediately reply. _Was_ he serious about this? It sure felt like it. Ever since he’d met Fiona, he’d had this strange sense of...a loss of control. Which, honestly, was kind of troubling. He’d _always_ had a plan—or...he’d always _thought_ he had a plan—but then along came this crazy Pandoran woman with a hat and a sleeve pistol and a silver tongue and he just...lost it. Poof. Gone. Every clever one-liner he managed to think of didn’t have the same effect on her that it would have had on some tight-skirted secretary back on Helios. In fact, more often than not, he found himself tripping over his words, stuttering and blabbering and generally looking like an idiot. And she would just patiently raise that eyebrow—the one with the weirdly cute scar through it—and wait for him to finish whatever it was he was trying to say. He tried to hate the way she insulted him, but it always felt more like teasing than anything else; there was rarely any actual venom in the words. He could fake animosity well enough around the others; keep up the charade of reluctant partner-in-crime, but when they were alone… He’d never felt _anything_ like this before, so...that had to mean—

“Rhys? Hello? Ugh, God, you...you _really_ mean it, don’t you?” Sasha tossed her hands in the air and kept walking. “Go figure, you come down from your fancy moonbase and pretend to go on and on about “filthy Pandoran criminals,” when _actually_ —”

“I think I love her, Sasha,” he murmured, still caught in his thoughts.

“See? _That’s_ what I’m talking about. How would you even know what love feels like, Hyperion boy? I bet you’ve never loved anyone besides yourself and maybe your parents. It’s just because we’re “dangerous” down here, right? You want to be able to brag to all your buddies about how you’ve got a “bad girl” and how you’re so smooth that even—whoa.”

She stopped so suddenly that Rhys almost walked straight into her. “What’s gooooh...wow.” A clearing had opened up in front of them, and _dozens_ of the glowing balloon-plants floated through the treetops. “That’s…”

Sasha took a few hesitant steps out into the glade, turning around, taking everything in. “This is incredible,” she breathed. “Oh, come look at these!” She was bent down beside a small tree, inspecting a patch of purple flowers growing on the trunk. “You know...after a while, you just sort of feel like you’ve seen everything; like you can’t be surprised by anything anymore…” She reached out to touch one of the flowers. “Something so delicate...hidden away…”

Nothing she was saying was incorrect, and he honestly wanted to bring a small handful (or an entire basket) back to Fiona, but he also had a sneaking suspicion that _maybe_ the flowers would be better off left undisturbed. There _had_ been a small carnivorous plant of some kind back in that initial “living area” after all... “Maybe...we should just let it be.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, however, Sasha grinned and plucked one anyway, holding it out to him. “Give it to Fiona.”

The blush that had been slowly subsiding over the past few minutes suddenly rushed back into his cheeks with nearly painful intensity. “You’re sure? Is this even her thing? I mean...would she like it? And weren’t you just complaining about how—”

She waved him off with a short laugh. “Yes, she’ll love it. Trust me. Just stick it behind her ear or something.”

Rhys accepted the flower hesitantly. “You’re _absolutely_ sure you’re okay with me and her...being together? If it...even happens…”

Sasha put her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow. “Would I be telling you to give her a flower if I wasn’t okay with it?”

“I don’t know, I mean, the whole thing could be another con,” he muttered, only half-joking. “Maybe she hates flowers. Maybe she’s allergic to them and—”

“Would you just keep the flower and walk so we can find this secur— _pfff_ —” A splatter of orange liquid covered her face before she could finish the sentence.

Rhys looked down at the flower, then back up at Sasha’s pollen-splashed face, laughing softly. “You deserved that.”

“Yes I did.”

Rhys tucked the flower into his vest pocket and turned back in the direction of the tower. He paused mid-step, however. Something wasn’t right. That leaky-gas-pipe noise had gotten louder. And...somehow more aggressive. “Uh...Sasha?”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear it.”

He backed toward her, glancing around the glade. The bluish-white glow provided by the docile floating plants had turned into a harsh red and about sixteen of them were propelling themselves slowly toward he and Sasha. “This is why we can’t have anything nice.” He pointed toward the angrily-hissing plants. “I _told_ you we should have just left it alone… Red means bad, right...?”

*****************************************************

Fiona hadn’t expected to see Rhys leaning on her sister’s shoulder, barely conscious, when the door slid open to reveal the two of them.

Vaughn took a step closer. “What happened?”

“Oh, um, Rhys just took a spill,” Sasha explained, half walking, half dragging Rhys through the door. “He’s...he’s totally fine.”

Fiona chewed the inside of her cheek, watching Rhys’ head roll limply from side to side, and accidentally bit down a little too hard when Sasha dumped him roughly against a stack of crates.

“Jussst...take spill,” he slurred. “...fine.”

Fiona kept her eyes on him for a moment longer. “You sure about that? He...might have a concussion.” As her gaze slid back to Sasha, she caught a glimpse of purple sticking out of the pocket of his vest and couldn’t keep herself from doing a double-take.

“Nah, he’ll be okay,” was the dismissive reply. “He’s got a thick skull. But we learned something about Cassius…”

Her sister’s words faded out as she stared at the scrap of purple. It was a flower. A glowing flower. A _crushed_ glowing flower. Where had he…? She blinked a few times, then glanced back at Sasha. _She_ didn’t have a flower on her, at least not that Fiona could see… Had she given it to him? Had _he_ planned to give it to _her?_ Fiona couldn’t help the little spike of jealousy that pierced through her chest at the thought. Sure, Sasha was her sister and her best friend and she wanted her to be happy and Rhys was a decent guy (even if he was Hyperion) but she didn’t think she’d been imagining all the—

Athena’s enraged screams snapped her out of her daze and she snatched the flower from Rhys’ vest before turning to see what all the commotion was about. Athena had her sword at Cassius’ throat, snarling, while Vaughn, Gortys, and Sasha just watched in horror. Fiona spared one last look back at Rhys. She didn’t really know where this jealousy had come from, and didn’t even know if her juvenile reasoning was justified, but as she started across the room toward her sister, she dropped the flower, not feeling any guilt whatsoever when the heel of her boot mashed it into a weakly-glowing paste on the concrete.


End file.
